Turbine engine ejector throat control
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsNishant Kumar SINHA, Sanjay RAJU, Rajendra Mahadeorao WANKHADE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing a pressurized air supply to a balance piston assembly to balance an axial load on a gas turbine engine compressor. The pressurized air supply can be supplied by mixing valve mixing a primary and secondary pressure bleed air supply relative to feedback received from the balance piston assembly to maintain a predetermined pressure at the balance piston assembly.
Claims27
A turbine engine comprising:
- a drive shaft;
- a compressor section mounted to the drive shaft;
- a turbine section mounted to the drive shaft aft of the compressor section;
- a bearing abutting the compressor section;
- a pressure-operated balance piston assembly applying an axial force to the compressor section to urge the compressor section axially forward to reduce an axial load on the bearing;
- and
- an air-pressure supply comprising a primary bleed air supply fluidly coupled to a first portion of the compressor having a first pressure, a secondary bleed air supply fluidly coupled to a second portion of the compressor having a second pressure lower than the first pressure, a mixed air supply fluidly coupled to the pressure-operated balance piston assembly having a third pressure, and a mixing valve proportionally coupling the primary and secondary bleed air supplies to the mixed air supply in response to first, second, and third pressures to maintain a predetermined third pressure.
An ejector for a turbine engine comprising:
- a secondary conduit having an outlet and a mixing chamber upstream of the outlet;
- and
- a primary conduit having a variable area throat located within the secondary conduit and upstream of the mixing chamber.
A turbine engine comprising a compressor section and turbine section axially arranged on a common drive shaft between a bearing and a pressure balance piston applying an axial force urging the compressor section and turbine section forward to reduce a load on the bearing, and an ejector with a variable area throat fluidly coupling primary and secondary bleed air sources of different pressures to a mixing chamber downstream of the throat and supplying mixed air from the primary and secondary bleed air sources to the balance piston.
A method of providing pressurized air to a pressure balance piston of a gas turbine engine comprising sensing a first pressure at a first compressor bleed air supply, sensing a second pressure at a second compressor bleed air supply having a lesser pressure than the first pressure, sensing a third pressure at the pressure balance piston, and mixing the air from the first and second bleed air supplies in proportion to the first, second and third pressures.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.